


Lessons of the Heart

by uniquepov



Series: Snarry LDWS Round 5 (Mini-fic Challenge) [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-22
Updated: 2012-04-22
Packaged: 2017-11-05 06:22:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/403342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uniquepov/pseuds/uniquepov
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His godson asks some difficult questions. Severus and Harry try to answer.</p><p>Week 1<br/>
Prompt: teacher!Harry</p><p>
  <a href="http://pics.livejournal.com/uniquepov/pic/0001xc2c/">
    <img/></a>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lessons of the Heart

**Author's Note:**

> I participated in Round 5 of the [](http://snarry-ldws.livejournal.com/profile)[**snarry_ldws**](http://snarry-ldws.livejournal.com/) \- the Mini-Fic challenge! I was lucky enough to make it to the final two, where the inimitable [](http://literaryspell.livejournal.com/profile)[**literaryspell**](http://literaryspell.livejournal.com/) took home the gold, as they say.
> 
>  **Disclaimer:** I solemnly swear that I am up to no good; however, I promise to return everyone, good as new, when I'm done playing with them. I own nothing that you recognize, and I do not profit from any of it.

“Uncle Harry?”

Harry looked up from his copy of the _Daily Prophet_ to see six-year-old Teddy, his lower lip trembling as he stood in the doorway. He folded the paper and laid it aside.

“Hey, little man.” He frowned in concern at the boy’s expression. Holding his arms open, he gave his godson his most comforting smile. “Come here, you.”

Teddy ran across the room to fling himself into Harry’s lap, his little arms winding tightly around Harry’s neck.

“What’s wrong? Did you hurt yourself playing in the garden?”

“No,” Teddy ducked his head, avoiding Harry’s eyes. “Gran took me to Diagon Alley last week, for new robes,” he said. “And there were a lot of other kids getting their uniforms for Hogwarts.”

Harry nodded. “Term starts next week. Are you disappointed you don’t get to go? You’ve only got a few more years; you’ll be eleven before you know it, Teddy.”

Teddy shook his head. “That’s not it. I like going to visit you and Uncle Severus and Aunt Minerva at Hogwarts, but I don’t want to live there yet.”

“Well, what is it, then? You can tell me.”

Teddy took a shuddering breath. “They were all there with their mums and dads. And I started to wonder… what it would have been like to have parents... who… who loved me.” His words dissolved into soft sobs and Harry held him close to his chest and rocked him.

“Oh, Teddybear,” Harry whispered. “Your mum and dad _did_ love you. They loved you so very, very much.”

“They … did?” Teddy gave a hiccoughing sob, rubbing at his eyes.

“They did,” Harry said firmly. “They were so happy when you were born. They didn’t want to leave you, little man.”

“Then why aren’t they here?” Teddy sobbed plaintively.

Harry blinked back his own tears, unable to find the words to explain the injustice of all the lives that had been cut short by the war to his distraught godson; lost in remembering all the times he’d cried himself to sleep in his cupboard, asking that same question.

“Theodore Remus.”

Teddy raised his head, blinking at Severus, who had crossed the room to crouch beside the chair.

“Your parents, and your grandfather, were brave, noble souls. They would never have left you willingly, but there was a very evil wizard on the loose, and he was hurting and killing a lot of other people. Your parents fought bravely and did everything they could to return to you.”

Teddy rubbed at his eyes again. “They shouldn’t have left me all alone with Gran.”

“Perhaps not. But your Gran loves you, and so does Uncle Harry. And so do I,” Severus said gently. “Your parents are heroes, little one. You should be very proud to be their son.”

“I am,” Teddy said, his voice wavering.

“Make sure you tell them so,” Harry told him gently.

“Tell them? How?”

“Do you think that just because they ‘ve passed on, that they’ve left you completely? Your mum and dad are watching over you every moment of every day.”

“They are?” Teddy’s eyes were as wide as saucers.

“They are,” Harry confirmed.

Teddy looked around the room, wide-eyed. “But _where_ are they?”

Harry laid his hand over Teddy’s heart. “They’re right here, Teddybear. You carry them with you, no matter where you are.”

Teddy thought about this for a moment, then his whole expression brightened. He kissed Harry’s cheek as he pulled his arms away, sliding out of Harry’s lap to his feet. He pressed a kiss to Severus’ cheek as well. “Thank you, Uncle Harry, Uncle Sev. Can I go out into the garden and talk to them?”

Harry nodded, not trusting himself to speak, and Teddy scampered off. He took off his glasses to avoid locking eyes with Severus, still crouched beside the chair. Harry rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands and managed a whispered, “Thanks for that.”

Severus nodded. “I know it’s not easy for you, Harry. But he will understand, in time, just as you did. You will teach him.”

“Never thought I’d see the day you’d call Remus a hero,” Harry teased, taking refuge in humour. “Or actually admit, out loud, that you loved anyone.”

Severus chuckled, ghosting his hand over Harry’s cheek as he leaned in to brush their lips together. “Perhaps you’ve taught me a few things, as well,” he murmured.  



End file.
